Andy Schotz, chair @spjregion2EmailBio (click to expand)
Andy Schotz was a city editor for The Frederick News-Post in Frederick, Md., for about 19 months until he was laid off on April 17, 2017.

He has been an SPJ member since 2002 and has held various positions on the Washington, D.C., Pro chapter board, including three consecutive one-year terms as president.

He served on the SPJ Ethics Committee from 2004 to 2011, including three years as chairman.

Schotz ran unsuccessfully for at-large director on the national SPJ board in 2012. The following year, he ran unopposed for Region 2 director.

He is a frequent SPJ contest judge (D.C. Pro Dateline Awards, SDX, Mark of Excellence, Green Eyeshade, high school essay) and has twice coordinated Region 2's Mark of Excellence contest.

He joined the SPJ Awards & Honors Committee in 2013 and helped work on a national survey seeking feedback about the MOE contest. He is currently the committee's chairman.

Before joining The Frederick News-Post in 2015, he was an editor at The Gazette, a chain of weekly papers, in Montgomery County, Md. He was there for almost 2 1/2 years before The Gazette folded in June 2015.

Schotz worked for eight years as a reporter and editor at The Altamont Enterprise, a weekly paper in upstate New York, then 13 years as a reporter for The Herald-Mail, a daily paper in Hagerstown, Md.

He is on the board of directors of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors.

The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the national winners of the 2013 Mark of Excellence Awards, recognizing collegiate work published or broadcasted during 2013.

The awards honor the best in student journalism. As such, judges were directed to choose only those entries which they felt were outstanding work worthy of a national honor. If the judges determined that none of the entries rose to the level of excellence, no award was given. Any category not listed has no winner.

School divisions are based on student enrollment, which includes both graduate and undergraduate enrollment. Schools with more than 10,000 students are designated as large schools.

National Mark of Excellence Award judges can choose up to one national winner in each category and two national finalists (runners-up).

Winners and finalists were previously recognized by receiving first-place in one of the SPJs 12 regional competitions. Each first-place regional winner advanced to the national competition.

 National Finalist: ACU student killed in accident, by Taylor Langston, Abilene Christian University
 National Finalist: NCAA leaves door open for further sanction modifications, by John Stuetz and John McGonigal, Pennsylvania State University

Breaking News Reporting, Small School Division

National Winner: The Search for the Boston Marathon Bombers, by The Harvard Crimson news staff, Harvard College

 National Finalist: In the Shadows: In Malawi, a stigmatized group seeks equal treatment, by Sonali Kohli and Blaine Ohigashi, University of California, Los Angeles
 National Finalist: Stem Cell series, by Chelsea Henderson, Lamar University

 National Finalist: Outing sexual violence disparities, by Branden Largent, University of Minnesota
 National Finalist: Kirkwood Father Tries To Find Meaning in Daughter's Death, by Allison Pohle, University of Missouri-Columbia

 National Finalist: Andrew Copp: Off the gridiron, onto the ice, by Greg Garno, University of Michigan
 National Finalist: Brothers Bernhardt, by Aaron Kasinitz, University of Maryland, College Park

Sports Writing, Small School Division

National Winner: Ladies first draws larger crowds, by Macaela Bennett, Hillsdale College

 National Finalist: No easy choice: How student survivors of sexual assault manage the maze of options before them, by Haley Goldberg, University of Michigan
 National Finalist: No Place to Hide, by Brett Berntsen, University of Montana School of Journalism

 National Finalist: Same-sex marriage bills to be introduced, by Bridget Bennett, University of Minnesota
 National Finalist: ROTC training during spring 2013, by Suhaib Tawil, Iowa State University

General News Photography, Small School Division

National Winner: Homeless, under 30 and invisible, by Sarah Williamson, Flagler College

 National Finalist: Getting ready for rising seas in the Bay Area, by Aaron Mendelson, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
 National Finalist: Eyes on the Street: Seeking Justice and Pressuring Freedoms, by Connor Ryan, Fordham University

Radio Sports Reporting

National Winner: Football Concussions, by Stephanie Marroquin, California State University-Northridge

 National Finalist: Todd Thomas, by Tim VanDuyne, Illinois State University

Best All-Around Radio Newscast

National Winner: Carolina Connection, by Louis Fernandez, James Kaminsky and Zach Mayo, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 National Finalist: WRKC News at 5, by WRKC staff, King's College
 National Finalist: Louisiana Focus, by William R. Davie, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

National Winner: Not Even a Number, by Kathryn Sotolongo and Nick Swyter, University of Miami

 National Finalist: School Shooting Safety: Act of Malpractice? by News Staff, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 National Finalist: Oklahoma City University's Clery Act violations, by Madi Alexander and Hailey Holloway, Oklahoma City University

National Winner: ViewFinder: Larger than Life, by Louie Dane, University of Maryland

 National Finalist: Bellefonte Mansion, by Caroline Goggin, Pennsylvania State University / College of Communications
 National Finalist: Mechanics Competition, by Stian Michalsen, Minnesota State University Moorhead

National Winner: WVU Gymnastics Success, by Mike Ploger, West Virginia University

 National Finalist: NDSU Equestrian Club, by Stian Michalsen, Minnesota State University Moorhead
 National Finalist: Cost of Recruiting, Part 1, by Janelle Davis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 National Finalist: Matters of Faith, by Vox staff, Missouri School of Journalism
 National Finalist: The end of the Waffle House, by Jessica Contrera, Emma Grdina and Anna Teeter, Indiana University

Online In-Depth Reporting

National Winner: Along the Route of the Whale, by Carol Ann Bassett (adviser) and staff, University of Oregon

 National Finalist: Hot Spots, by staff, The Medill Justice Project, Northwestern University
 National Finalist: Back home: The Failures, by News21 staff, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

 National Finalist: What's at Risk: Sea Level Rise in Maryland, by Capital News Service Staff, Philip Merrill College of Journalism
 National Finalist: Hop to Sip, by Hannah Glennon, Hunter Thompson and Corinne Winthrop, Colorado State University

Best Affiliated Website

National Winner: MNDaily.com, Minnesota Daily, University of Minnesota